Past and modern lottery and gaming systems are beset with security-related and other challenges. In a typical lottery purchase and redemption transaction, a lottery ticket is purchased at a point-of-sale or kiosk station of a participating retailer. Playslips may be involved for those players selecting numbers for a lottery drawing. If the ticket is an instant ticket, it is typically played by scratching the surface or using other means to determine if it is a winner.
With instant tickets, rolls of tickets are traditionally printed and manufactured in central facilities, and then distributed to retail locations. The tickets can be distributed to customers through ticket vending machines, which can be operated by retail clerks or as self-service kiosks. Such devices must be re-stocked with tickets when bins or rolls become empty, and delays in re-stocking popular games can lead to player frustration and lost revenue. Gaming with traditional physical tickets also exposes lottery operators and system providers to losses due to theft of tickets and fraud. For example, an unscrupulous retail clerk may attempt to locate and secure winning instant tickets while leaving losing tickets for the public to purchase. This risk occurs, in part, because security features must be printed on the tickets prior to retail distribution. Additionally, by using fully pre-printed tickets, there is no opportunity for players to add customization features to their purchased tickets, or share aspects of their entertaining purchase with others. Further, complications with inks, ticket compositions, game data and security features have made it extremely difficult to effectuate local ordering and printing of lottery tickets.